Editorial: Don't make it harder for college students to vote

Published: July 17, 2014 4:00 AM

For years, teenagers could serve in the military yet could not vote. All that changed with the passage of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, allowing millions of young people to participate in the democratic process and shape their future.

In North Carolina, a restrictive voting law threatens to reduce that voice. Seven college students are fighting back, claiming the change interferes with students' right to vote and violates the 26th Amendment, which includes the line that voting by those 18 or older "shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age."

For those of us who want to see voting barriers broken down, not erected, we hope the students win this challenge.

The North Carolina law, passed last year, had a number of bad provisions: It shortened the period for early voting, eliminated same-day registration and required photo IDs. That poses particular problems for older and minority citizens as well as college students, prompting civil rights groups to describe the law as the worst since Jim Crow.

The law also specifically rejected university-issued student photo ID cards as an accepted identification. Out-of-state driver's licenses also were deemed unacceptable.

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North Carolina lawmakers say they are trying to prevent students from submitting absentee ballots in their home states and also voting in North Carolina, but they have no evidence whatsoever this is a problem or ever will be a problem. So we're glad to see these students dish out their own civics lesson in a courtroom.

The case has implications for Texas, which also requires voters to produce a photo ID and nixes state university identification cards and out-of-state driver's licenses as proper ID.

It is easy to decipher the politics behind the North Carolina and other highly restrictive voting rights laws. When galvanized, voters under the age of 30 wield significant voting clout.

This group accounted for about 15 percent of the vote cast nationally in 2012, a bloc large enough to keep any election close. In 2008, the youth vote tipped North Carolina in favor of Barack Obama. In 2012, those under 30 in the state turned out at a 57 percent rate, among the highest in the country.

When the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Texas immediately reinstated its previously blocked voter ID law, which includes voter photo requirements that this newspaper believes are excessive, unwarranted and intended to suppress voter turnout.

Voting is not a perk for politicians to play with; it is a constitutional right to be encouraged, not obstructed.

The Dallas Morning News

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bam Jul 18, 2014 7:34 AM

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If you have an out of state driver's license it would seem you have an out of state residence,hence you should not be voting at college. I have not read the law,as it would seem,you also have not done,therefore I would presume the author has made sure to lean it his way.

Food for thought: Why does the justice department go after each state that changes a law about voting,but dropped charges against the black panthers that were to be sentenced for voter obstruction?

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major_ duh Jul 17, 2014 10:49 PM

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bam, Please note, the article stated, “The law also specifically rejected university-issued student photo ID cards as an accepted identification.” So, yes, colleges may issues I. D.s at no cost, but the state of North Carolina is refusing to recognize those I. D.s as valid for voting. The state is also not accepting a valid out-of-state driver’s license. If the purpose of requiring the I. D. is to determine you are you, both of these methods of identification should suffice. The constant push to curtail voting among the small percentage of Americans who actually want to cast a ballot is abhorrent.

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wisdomjacket Jul 17, 2014 7:44 PM

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Voting is certainly not a perk for politicias to play with, however, it is a constitutional right that carrys with it constitutional ramifications; ramifications politicians must defend or guard against. Let us say the entire COW student body turned out to vote for a particular US Senate or House candididate. The thinking would be, if they're citizens of Ohio and specifically the 16th district, then those students have a right to vote. But what about the students who are not from Ohio or the 16th district, what right do they have to ignore their own home town poitics to unduly influence ours just because they can? It's a liberal plan to move votes which are meaningless, out of blue metropolis areas where most go to waste, and import them into red regional areas to influence that areas normal political process. Whether it's legal or not will remain to be seen. As for the ethics of the move, it speaks volumes of the American body politic co-opted into this liberal conspiracy to destroy the true representive spirit of the Congress.

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bam Jul 17, 2014 2:37 PM

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Don't all colleges have a photo college ID? And they are at no cost to students?And they can vote by mail,if they are attending out of the area?

Seems like some are trying to start yet another war?

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